Joaquin Phoenix's accidental acting

Joaquin Phoenix admits a ''big part'' of his on screen skills comes about ''by accident''.

The 'Master' star has been nominated for two Oscars - as Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'Gladiator' and 'Best Actor' in 'Walk the Line' - but says whether the characters he plays become powerful screen figures is beyond his control.

He said: ''Do a lot of people come in and take credit for what they do? Does anybody acknowledge that a big part of what they do is just an accident? At least it is for me. I'll speak for myself. I don't think I've ever said that I want to play this type of character and then I've searched out and found it. It's just f***ing lucky, either you get lucky or you don't.''

The 38-year-old actor said the only exception during his career has been the film 'I'm Still Here' in which he pretended to give up acting in real life for a hip-hop career and was followed around by director Casey Affleck in a documentary style.

He explained to the Independent newspaper: ''That might be the one exception. I just wanted to try a different way of working, I wanted to work with my friends and I wanted to work without the whole machine.''